Remains of former O’Jays member found, four decades after discovery of bag

Singer and guitarist identified after disappearance in 1982

(Twinsburg Police Department)

The remains of a former O’Jays member have been identified almost four decades after human remains were discovered in a bag, police have said.

Frank Little Jr, a former songwriter and guitarist for the O’Jays, was last seen in Cleveland, Ohio, in the 1970s, before he went missing.

Little was known about his disappearance but according to police in Twinsburg, Ohio, a relative had recently provided investigators with a DNA sample.

That was used to analyse the partial human remains found in a bag that had been dumped by Cannon Road, Twinsburg, in 1982. The town is about 25 miles south east of Cleveland.

Police said in a press release on Tuesday that the bag was found to have contained “remains were that of an African-American male, 20 to 35 years of age, approximately 5’6” tall”.

“He may have had adolescent kyphosis, a curvature of the spine,” it added.

While the death had been ruled a homicide, Twinsburg police said, it was not known who the remains belonged to.

The DNA Doe Project, a nonprofit company that uses advanced genetic genealogy, were responsible for the idenfitcation.

A cause of death was not confirmed on Tuesday.

Little, who was raised in Cleveland, Ohio, was a Vietnam veteran and served for two years in the country. He also had a daughter who passed away in 2012, authorities said.

The O’Jays went on to top US and global charts, and in 2005 entered the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. The band were formed in Cleveland.